Young soccer players who went to England for trials with Premiership clubs recently were under no illusions as to the magnitude of their task.

So says Paul Scope, one of the prime movers behind the trip for 11 of Bermuda's promising players in July.

Although none of the players secured deals following stints at the likes of Manchester United, Middlesbrough and Spurs, Scope said they did gain valuable experience.

The Island coach was responding to well-intentioned criticism from Manchester City striker Shaun Goater in yesterday's Royal Gazette who said he believed sending players en masse to England did not benefit the Island if they all came back again empty-handed.

"I think it's good that players are coming over here and having trials and so forth, but whoever is sending them needs to tell these kids what they are coming to," he said. "If they are sending over that many kids and none of them are making it it is not good for the Island. If they are going back not having achieved anything then somewhere along the line they are not being prepared properly and people are hoping that, for example, `if we send 20, one will get a contract'."

Goater called for the Bermuda Football Association to coordinate a programme whereby only the best youngsters, schooled in what was expected of them, were sent to England.

Scope, while not wholly disagreeing with Goater's comments, believes that he and the other coaches involved did the best they could to prepare the players beforehand and is adamant the trials were worthwhile.

"If anything, we've enhanced our relationships with those clubs and we've said to them that the only players who we will send in the future will be exceptional players," he said.

"We realise that we are very far behind at the Under-16 level. I absolutely agree with Shaun on that.

"The level of 16 year-olds in England is far advanced, but we prepared them as well as we could. Obviously, we were under no illusions that there was a good possibility that once they got there that they would still be surprised with the high standard."

Scope said the players had been training for some ten weeks before they departed, taking part in fitness workouts throughout the summer on local beaches and at the track under the guidance of a physical trainer.

He also said that around eight to ten meetings were held, and that during these discussions much emphasis was placed on how the players needed to be prepared.

Scope, who played in England, admitted that things had changed a lot on the other side of the Atlantic since he and the likes of former West Ham star Clyde Best had played.

"It's changed a lot since we've been there, but obviously we still knew what the demands were and we went to great lengths to inform the guys what they needed to do and so forth," he said.

"But we were pleasantly surprised at how many players the clubs were prepared to take. Maybe that was a compliment to Clyde Best and we didn't want to forgo that opportunity because what we felt that we really needed was a benchmark.

"We had an idea that the Premiership had advanced a long way since we first had the opportunity to send players in an organised fashion."

Scope also agreed that players needed to be sent earlier, at the same time as English youngsters are being given their first taste of academies.

"Maybe the way to go for the future would be to send our kids out younger so that they can learn the proper diet and whatever else was needed to become a professional footballer," he said.

Bermuda Football Association president Larry Mussenden has spoken out on the issue of player trials before.

He believes it is the responsibility of those organising trials to inform both the players and their parents of the pros and cons of life as a professional soccer player.

"We can't set people up for failure or disappointment and we can't be seen to be giving players unreasonable expectations when in reality we know that those expectations will not be met or the players do not have the tools to meet them," said Mussenden.

"I would encourage any such facilitators to act in the best interests of the players and their families."

While not answering Goater's call for the BFA to be at the vanguard of any schemes to send youngsters overseas for try-outs, Mussenden said his organisation was fully behind the Island's youth.

"We are more than cognisant of what the requirements are to have people succeed at that level," he said. "And I would confirm to everybody that the BFA is committed to the development of our young people and our youth programme and to that end we have appointed Kenny Thompson as the director of youth development and we have had talks with the English Football Association about youth development."